


Albus Potter and the Complicated Relationship with Scorpius Malfoy

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Coming Out, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Fluff and Angst, Hogwarts, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Canon, Scorpius Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 14:56:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9077521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Scorpius and Albus are close friends, like hand holding and cuddling close. Scorpius is in love with Albus, who is completely oblivious. And everyone else thinks they're in a relationship, including their parents.-Currently on Hiatus indefinitely, but it will be continued-





	1. Chapter 1

Scorpius Malfoy was not oblivious to his love for Albus Potter, he knew it. It filled his mind everyday, it consumed his thoughts. He’d often find himself staring, although it was easy to pass that off as zoning out or going blank. He knew people whispered about him sometimes, about his eyeliner or his nails. Albus didn’t care, which made it easier for him to not care.

Albus Potter, on the other hand, was wholly oblivious to Scorpius’ love-at least to Scorpius’ knowledge. Scorpius knew Albus loved him, it was just in a different way, a way that resulted in much more pain on Scorpius’ part.

Things had not improved since Albus decided that they hugged (well, maybe they had improved, depends how you look at it). With the hugging came touching, they did it all the time. Whether it was Albus idly rubbing his hands as they sat, or Albus leaning against him as they studied, they even sometimes fell asleep tucked into each other. It was just altogether a painful experience, but also a wonderful one.

Scorpius couldn’t help but dream (awake or otherwise), of a world in which Albus did love him in the same way. He tried not to do it often, it almost felt like an intrusion on Albus to think of him that way.

Today, Albus was perched on the arm of the couch in the Slytherin commons, his arm slung around Scorpius. Who was actually sitting properly on the couch, reading a book (or trying to, he’d been on the same sentence for ten minutes).

“Scorp.” Albus said, no question, just his name.

“Albus,” Scorpius reciprocated, his eyes drifting up to Albus’ face.

“Are you done reading?” Albus asked, his voice hopeful (how did Scorpius ever stand a chance?).

“No Albus, generally you’re done when you reach the end of the book,” The words were meant to be patronizing but Scorpius couldn’t quite keep the smile out of his voice (or off of his face).

“Git,” Albus muttered playfully.

“I don’t know, Albus. What do you have in mind once I am done reading?”

“I don’t know, we could go outside. Enjoy the snow,” Albus suggested, prodding Scorpius’ shoulder with his pointer finger.

“You know I hate snow,” Scorpius recited, as he had a million times.

“Yes, I do. Which makes me a good friend. You know what would make you a good friend? Doing something, anything, with me,” Albus groaned, sliding down on the couch and cramming Scorpius out of the corner.

“Fine,” Scorpius slammed his book and chucked it to the table. “What do you suppose we do?” he asked, “-That’s not snow-related.”

“We could go down to dinner,” Albus suggested, his love for food often clouded his decisions, this time was no different.

“Albus, It’s three o'clock,” Scorpius snorted, grabbing his friend’s hand. After the events of the fourth year (the time-travel and the thwarting Voldemort and all), they’d basically been attached at the hip. And touching had become no big thing (almost dying together multiple times will do that to you). Now, Scorpius idly rubbed the palm of Albus’ hand.

_This is the closest I’ll ever come to being Albus’ boyfriend_ Scorpius thought I _t’s not so bad, most people will never come half as close._

“Well,” Albus muttered, squeezing his hand  “I don’t see you making any suggestions.”

“I was perfectly content just reading my book,” Scorpius pointed out, letting his hand go limp in Albus’.

“Fine,” Albus huffed, squeezing away from Scorpius and off the couch. “I’ll go find someone else to hang out with.” He grabbed his hanging scarf and left the room.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and followed Albus out into the snow.

—

It was of no surprise to Albus that Scorpius followed him, he generally did whenever Albus left the room. When Scorpius found him, he was sitting in the snow and rolling balls. Preparing for the upcoming battle.

Albus was able to hit Scorp straight in the face when he slid through the giant doors and blinked in the sunlight that was in sharp contrast to the dark dungeon he’d spent his day (and most days) in.

“Hey!” Scorpius growled, wiping the fluffy white powder from his face. “That was not fair.”

“I’ve never claimed to be fair,” Albus countered, chucking another snowball. This one hit him square in the chest.

Scorpius bit his lip and ducked quickly into the snow, gathering his weapons, no doubt.

Albus turned around and gathered more snowballs, when turned back to face Scorpius, he was staring at him. Albus’ cheeks reddened, he didn’t know why, Scorpius stared at him all the time. They were friends.

Albus shook it off and grinned at Scorpius, chucking his snowball at Scorpius’ shoulder.

Scorpius retaliated, but his snowball landed about ten inches left of Albus. Albus cackled.

—

Scorpius shook his head and gritted his teeth as Albus laughed. He didn’t need throwing skills to beat Albus.

Gathering enough snow, Scorpius ran at Albus and tackled him to the ground, shoving the snow into his face. Albus flailed under him and (as soon as he has cleared the snow from his face) grinned.

They both came to a still, Albus staring at him, the same goofy grin held on his face.

Scorpius couldn’t help but think about Albus’ lips, he didn’t stare at them though, not for long. That would be much to obvious, there was only so much Albus could not notice until he caught on. And Scorpius was already toeing that line.

It was only when Scorpius became painfully aware of a quiet giggling to the side of them that he tore his eyes off of Albus. It was two seventh year girls, they were holding their gloved hands over their mouths and eyeing the boys.

Scorpius rolled off and sat in the snow, his cheeks reddening. Albus sat up and glared at them. Scorpius knew it wasn’t worth it, whatever would come of this.

Scorpius grabbed Albus’ shoulder, “Come on,” He said, standing up and brushing the snow off of himself.

Albus looked ready to put up an argument, but Scorpius shook his head and pleaded with his eyes.

“Fine,” Albus relented, standing up and very obviously taking Scorpius’ hand. Scorpius stiffened but held on.

“I should have said something,” Albus groaned as they distanced themselves from the girls. “I should have told them off.”

“Albus,” Scorpius warned, shaking his head, “It’s not important, Okay?”

Albus narrowed his eyes and nodded, looking unsure.

It wouldn’t matter in a few minutes anyway, it was always like this. Someone always laughed or made assumptions. No one thought they could just be friends, not with how they acted. It always made Scorpius laugh (when it wasn’t making him cry). Because he wished that they were right, that they were something more. Then at least their petty laughs would be worth something. Then at least it wouldn’t matter, because he would always have Albus to run to.  

—

Albus looked sideways at Scorpius, who was staring ahead. It hurt him when people laughed, not because he cared (he’d never been one to give two shits about what other people thought), because he knew it hurt Scorpius, and Albus couldn’t think of anything worse than seeing his friend hurt.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius pines and Albus is confused (and oblivious). Some of the other students take notice of Albus and Scorpius' "friendship".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kudos or comments or just read the first chapter. I'm glad people liked it and I'm excited to continue this story with everyone.

The summer before fifth year had been the worst for Scorpius, it had been when he came to terms with his love for Albus (it was undeniable when he spent at least 3/4s of his summer missing him). Though it was rivalled by the beginning of fifth year, when Albus had started expressing interest in girls. Of course Albus had never dated any of those girls, he was anti-social at the best of times. And he wasn’t exactly popular, being both a disappointing Potter son and the best friend of the “Son of Voldemort” (despite the revelation of Delphi, those rumors still flew).

Today, Scorpius lay in bed, the dormitory was silent (except for the heavy breaths of half-a-dozen boys). He always woke up earlier than everyone else, it used to be the need to shower and get ready before everyone woke, but now it was just habit.

He couldn’t help but stew on his situation, he often did this when he had free time of any kind. If he rolled over and pulled back his curtains just slightly (which he did), he could see Albus’ sleeping face.

Sometimes (only sometimes) Scorpius felt guilty for staring at Albus as he slept. Didn’t it sort of make him a creeper? What would Albus think if he knew if he stared at him while he slept? He’d probably be disgusted, or frightened. With a stifled groan he rolled over so he could no longer see the other boys perfect face.

 _I don’t know what I’m thinking_ He thought, nothing good could ever come from staring at Albus. There was nothing useful about knowing every line on his face or the way he looked when he thought no one was watching. None of this would ever result in anything but pain for Scorpius. But he kept doing it, because he had nothing but this. Albus causing him pain was better than Albus causing him nothing at all.

After a bit of arguing (with himself, of course) Scorpius rolled back over to look at Albus. He was lucky, he decided, because he got this. He got to be close to Albus, he got to be loved by him. What more could he want? (Aside from snogging him and marrying him and raising a family with him…). He was still staring when the Albus’ eyes creeped open.

Scorpius immediately averted his eyes, his breathing increasing, a damning blush creeping up his cheeks.

“Were you staring?” Albus asked, and Scorpius was forced to look back at him. He could see that there was only kindness in his soft eyes. Scorpius melted (in embarrassment and affection).

“No! I mean no, I just woke up. Must have slept in,” Scorpius blundered, his cheeks reddening by the second. “I mean, I was just wondering if you were awake yet. Because it’s so late,” Why had he turned back around? “I mean,” He shut his mouth so he wouldn’t keep babbling.

“Oh,” Albus said, sitting up. “Okay, um. Can you come here? I want to talk to you.”

Scorpius’ heart raced.

\---

Scorpius looked...nervous? Albus couldn’t imagine what he thought he wanted to say that would make him nervous. He wanted to ask, but he’d probably just shake it off as nothing. Instead Albus just decided to ease his fears and tell him what he wanted to say.

Albus patted the bed beside him, confused as to why Scorpius hadn’t already moved. He was usually quick to come closer. Sod it, he needed to ask. “Are you alright?”

“Um. yeah,” He smiled, his expression still on edge, and moved carefully to sit next to Albus.

“Well, winter break is coming up. And we’ve never really done this. But I don’t want to not see you for that long, so, maybe you could come spend some time at my families house? I mean, assuming it’s okay with your dad…” Albus trailed off awkwardly, desperately hoping for an enthusiastic yes.

“Albus,” Scorpius started, his lips twitching upward. “Of course! I mean, I don’t know about my dad, but I really would like that!” Scorpius beamed, all his uncertainty and apprehension melting away. He pulled Albus into a tight hug.

Albus beamed back at him, his smile so wide he was afraid his mouth would be sore later. Something still bugged him though. “What did you think I was going to say?” He asked, keeping his tone light and curious.

“Hmm?” Scorpius pulled out of the hug.

“Well, you looked nervous. What did you think I was going to say?” Albus repeated, smiling.

“Oh, I don’t know. I wasn’t nervous,” Scorpius shook his head and his easygoing smlie melted into a nervous laugh. “It was-”

“Nevermind,” Albus interrupted, determined to put his friend out of his misery. “It doesn’t matter. Are you going to ask your dad?”

“Yes,” Scorpius, looking relieved, hopped off the bed and shifted through his stuff. Probably looking for a pen and quill. Albus couldn’t deny the happy feeling that was settling in is chest when he thought about spending the holidays with his best friend.

\---

Dad,

Albus has invited me to spend the holidays with his family. Not the whole time, I still want to spend time with you. But I’ve grown much closer to him and I don’t want to spend two weeks apart. The break is only a few weeks away and I can assume that his parents will need an answer soon. I hope we can work something out,

Your Son, Scorpius Malfoy.

Scorpius haphazardly scribbled out the letter. Going over it again (or four times) to be sure to catch any mistakes. His dad was a kind man, nothing like his grandfather or the boy the Potters use to know. He only hoped that he would see how much he wanted this.

Scorpius gently sealed the letter and scrambled to be ready so he could send it away before classes started. He wanted the answer as quickly as possible. With a quick explanation to Albus that he’d meet him at breakfast, Scorpius ran to the owlery to send the letter to his father. His thoughts and heart racing with the idea of spending Christmas with his best friend.

\---

Mum and Dad,

I’m writing to ask if scorpius can spend some of Holiday at our house. I’ve already told him he can, so it would be greatly appreciated if you were to give the same answer.

-Albus.

Albus wrote the letter as soon as Scorpius had left the room, he didn’t want him to know that he hadn’t already asked. Scorpius was always on about not wanted to be a bother to the Potter family, and he knew this wouldn’t make him happy.

He stuffed the note into his pocket and made a note to head to the owlry as soon as he could. By the time he was done, the other boys were waking up and Albus had just enough time to quickly throw on his robes and brush his teeth before any of them wanted to use the bathroom.

Often, Albus would wake up later, after both the others and Scorpius has gotten themselves ready. And Scorpius would wait impatiently on his bed for Albus to finish so they could head to breakfast. (Scorpius was always going on about Albus’ food obsession, but there was something to be said about _his_ appetite in the morning too).

Today as Albus walked (alone) into the dining hall, he watched as everyone stared at him. Everyone always stared, but more so after the time travelling incident of the year before. And especially when he was without his friend (which was never).  

He was sitting awkwardly at the end of slytherin table, halfheartedly picking at a plate of fried sausages and willing Scorpius to come in. When Rose brightly sat herself down next to him (in Scorpius’ seat).

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Rose asked, pulling out what looked like a bright red homework planner (undoubtedly a gift from Aunt Hermione). “Aren’t you two usually inseparable?” She pulled out a pencil and scribbled something into her book.

“No, I mean. Yeah, but he had to stop by the owlery,” Albus told her, ignoring the comment. “He should be here any minute,” He craned his neck around the room to catch sight of him (no luck),  and came to a rest on Rose. “No offence, but what are you doing here? At the slytherin table, with me?” Albus asked, things had improved in the summer after fourth year (with his whole family) but no one would exactly call them friends.

“You looked dreadfully sad, sitting here alone,” Rose sniffed, turning her nose up. “But, if you don’t want my company,” She went to grab her things.

Albus rolled his eyes (he made a big show of it, too), and grabbed her arm. “No, you can stay. Just try not to be such an arse. And Scorpius is _not_ my boyfriend,” Maybe he couldn’t ignore it after all.

Rose paused a second, probably backtracking in their conversation, and then gave her own mighty eye roll.

“Why isn’t he here yet?” Albus asked, giving the great hall another scan. “It doesn't take this long to send a letter.”

Rose shrugged and tucked into her food. “Could we talk about something besides Scorpius. Although I know you’re an expert in the subject.”

“Bugger off, Rose,” Albus retorted, “Just because you prefer to keep your posse of friends at arms length doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to have a close one.”

“Right, Albus,” Rose responded, pencilling in something else. “Where’s yours?” She asked, pulling on the edge of his bag and peeking in.

“My what? My friend?” Albus asked, pushing her hand away.

“Your planner?” She tapped her nails against her own. At Albus’ obviously confused look she continued. “My mum got us all one, at the beginning of the year.”

Albus wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “I don’t know,” His mind was still on Scorpius, and how he should be here. “I think I got rid of it at the beginning of the year. Or I gave it to Scorpius, he’s such a geek about that stuff,” Yes, he had. The corner of Albus’ mouth turned up at the memory.

“It would have been helpful,” Rose said, in her “my mum knows best” voice. “For your O.W.L.S. especially.”

“Oi,” Albus groaned, biting his lip. “Don’t remind me, they’re coming up.”

Rose rolled her eyes, probably deeming Albus a lost cause. “Okay,” She announced, carefully closing her planner and stuffing it into her bag. “This is weird now,” She mirrored Albus and glanced around the room.

“I’m going to go look for him,” Albus told her, pulling his bag over his shoulder and pushing his plate to the side. “If he shows up, tell him what happened,” He told rose, looking over his shoulder.

\---

Scorpius was halfway to the owlry, his bag over his shoulder. His letter held gently in his hand (Albus was always insisting he had some sort of weird love affair with paper and words). When an angry looking gryffindor (sixth year) stopped in front of him.

“What are you doing up here without your boyfriend? Little Voldy?” He asked, leaning into his path. His eyes malicious.

“I just need to go to the owlery,” Scorpius mumbled, bringing up his other hand to cover the letter in his hand.

“Really? I thought your only friend was Potter,” He commented, his (evil) smile quirking up to show his (perfect) teeth. “And he’s always... _with_ you. Isn’t he. Scorpius could hear the cruel innuendo in his voice.

Clenching his teeth, he tried to squeeze past him.

“Ay!” The boy laughed, “Let me see your letter. Can I see it?”

Scorpius crumpled the letter in his hand to protect it from the sixth year. He swerved around, planning to send the letter later.

The sixth year grabbed the back of his robes, clenching it hard and causing the neck of his shirt to strangle him. “Arg!” Scorpius grunted, unable to breathe. “Let me go!”

“Give me the letter,” He countered, Scorpius made a sound of protest, or tried to. It was a difficult task when he could barely pull any air into his lungs. The letter fluttered from his hand, despite his attempts to keep hold of it.

The sixth year took notice and let Scorpius go, pushing him out of the way and to his knees. He could feel humiliated tears blooming in his eyes, and he listened as the gryffindor ducked to grab his letter and took off down the hall.

Scorpius moved to sit on his butt, wiping at his eyes. He didn’t want anyone to find him here, especially not someone who would make him the butt of another joke. Grabbing his bag, he used his hands to push himself up from the ground.

“Scorpius?” He heard a familiar voice behind him, a very familiar voice (one that made his heart jump).

Scorpius turned around, rubbing the last of the tears from his eyes. He tried to look bright, like nothing had happened.  

“Scorpius, what happened?” Albus asked, dropping his school bag and rushing over. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Scorpius hated the sniffle in his voice, he didn’t want Albus to know he’d been crying. As close as they were, he didn’t want him to be angry. “Someone just-I mean, it was nothing.”

“What happened?” He asked again, pulling him into a hug. Scorpius melted into his embrace, all worry about the letter gone. He just wanted to stay here, forever, but of course he couldn’t. “Were you crying?”

Scorpius pulled back, feigning at a smile. Albus’ eyes remained hard, he could see right through him (he always could). “Fine, um,” Admitted, grabbing his hand. “Someone-I didn’t know him-asked me about you. Then he pushed me down and stole my letter,” He averted his eyes and gently squeezed Albus’ hand.

“What?” He asked, his eyes flaring. “He stole your letter? He pushed you? That’s-are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Albus. It was really nothing. I can write another letter. This happens all the time, you know this happens all the time. To both of us,” Scorpius squeezed his hand again and dropped it. Stooping to pick up his bag.

“It’s probably nothing-he’ll probably read it and realize it’s boring rub-” He stopped, his words fleeing his mind as Albus wrapped him in another tight hug. He could barely breathe, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

“They’re idiots,” Albus muttered, his breath warming Scorpius’ ear. “If they can’t see how amazing you are.”

Scorpius smiled and nuzzled his chin into Albus’ neck, his cheeks warming. “Ditto,” He mumbled pathetically, his brain unable to think of anything beyond the smell of Albus or the feel of his hair against his cheek. This was nothing unusual, but it felt more.

Albus pulled back and chuckled, “Ditto? Thanks Pal.” He commented sarcastically.

“What do you think he wanted with my letter?” Scorpius asked, he’d tried to hide the incident, but he was glad he could share his worries with his friend.

“Probably just wanted to be arse,” Albus shook off his worries. “I mean, you were just asking your dad if you could stay over holiday, right? What could they do with that?”

Scorpius smiled, latching onto his friend's arm. “Right.”

\---

Scorpius was disappointed that he would have to wait until after classes to send the letter. He was also disappointed that he would have to wait for lunch to eat. Albus rolled his eyes (discreetly, of course), at the other boy’s complaints. They went on all day.

They suffered through their first two classes, although it might have been an improvement because Scorpius rarely talked through classes. When they finally made it to lunch, all eyes were on them, He saw Rose glance over and widen her eyes, but she never actually came over to explain. Bloody Rose.

“What’s going on?” Scorpius asked, setting his plate down next to Albus. “Why is everyone staring, more than usual anyway.”

“I don’t know,” Albus burrowed his brows, leaning over to glance at a copy of the Prophet that was sprawled out in someone’s hands (a fourth year), she didn’t seem to notice him reading over her shoulder.

After a good look, he turned back to Scorpius. “Nothing,” He announced. “Well nothing to warrant this,” He glanced around, a good portion of the hall was still staring. A few were snickering.

“Do you think?” Scorpius started, fidgeting with his hand. “Do you think we should go ask Rose?”

“God, no,” Albus said, he looked as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. “She’d probably just tell us off for involving her in our embarrassing schemes.”

Scorpius groaned, twisting his mouth. “But I want to know what our embarrassing schemes are,” He complained.

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” Albus told him, pushing the last of his food around. “Let’s not be too eager.”

“Right,” Scorpius resigned, he was poking at his food the same as Albus.

\---

All through Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, people kept staring and chuckling at Scorpius and Albus. It got to the point that Albus crept over to Rose in History of Magic (with the gryffindors) and asked her what was going on.

“You don’t know?” She asked, her eyes wide. “Well, there’s this-” Her attention was drawn by Professor Binns, who was staring pointedly at Albus. (Who knew Professor Binns could do anything but drone on in that monotones voice?)

Albus scrambled back to his seat, even more eyes drawn to him.

\---

When they got back to the common room, everyone was gathered around the notice board. Gasps and chuckles filled the air, Albus’ stomach was aching for what was to come. This surely had to do with the stares they’d been receiving from every student in Hogwarts all day.

“What’s going on?” Albus asked, edging his way through the crowd. A few people looked back at him, some looked regretful, and some looked on the edge of Hysteric laughter.

When he finally made it to the front, Albus stared in horror at a letter nailed to the middle of the board.

\---

Scorpius recognized his handwriting immediately, it was the letter he’d written to his dad. Well, sort of, parts of it were changed. He felt his mouth open and his heart drop when he read what it now said:

Dad,

 ~~Albus~~ My boyfriend has invited me to spend the holidays with his family. Not the whole time, I still want to spend time with you. But I’ve grown much closer to him and want to fu-

Albus pulled him back before he could finish the letter, he could feel his tears welling and he didn’t want to cry in front of everyone. Albus ripped the letter down and crumpled in his fist. Scorpius just caught the signature:

 ~~Your~~ Voldemort’s Son, Scorpius Malfoy.

Albus pulled Scorpius gently up to their dorm. No one was up there, and Scorpius let the full weight of the letter fall on him. He burst into tears, ashamed that he’d let it affect him so much.

Albus pulled him into another hug, and rubbed his back. Scorpius let himself enjoy it, he let himself sink deep into Albus’ hug. Everyone already thought they were dating, what was the point of it if he couldn’t at least get something out of it?

His tears slowed, but he didn’t let go, neither did Albus. They didn’t say anything, because there was nothing to say. He only wished this could last forever. They moved to Albus’ bed and slept with their arms tangled into each other and their heads close. This was new, they’d never done this before. Scorpius didn’t know what to think of it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius pines, Albus and Scorpius act like boyfriends without actually being boyfriends, and Lily is a smart-ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extreme wait, I was super busy with school and also just going through a pretty bad writer's block. But, I'm back now. And the next chapter should be up a lot sooner. So, I hope you enjoy. Thanks always reading and leaving comments and kudos.

Dear Scorpius,

I’ve considered your request to spend Christmas with the Potters, and I agree that it would be good for you to spend some time with your friend. I can see how happy he makes you, and I want you to have a nice Christmas. But I do have a condition, and It’s that you spend the first week of the break with me at the manor. I hope you have a good time.

Your Father, Draco Malfoy. 

Scorpius beamed at Albus over the letter, he’d written and sent a new letter the day after his first one had been taken from him (Albus had insisted walking him up to the owlery to send it this time, not like it would have mattered), and only two days later his dad had replied with unexpected good news. Scorpius couldn’t contain his smile as he tucked the letter away and grabbed Albus’ hand. 

“He said yes!” Scorpius announced, sliding closer to Albus on the seat so that he could see the neatly-written letter. “I get to spend Christmas with you! Can you believe it?”

Albus smiled back, finishing off his eggs. “That’s amazing, can you imagine? Does this mean I have to get you a present?”

“No! I mean you don’t have to,” Scorpius turned his eyes to the table and became suddenly very interested in a stained spot, a frown edging his lips downward. 

“No, Scorpius. I’m kidding. Of course I’m getting you a present,” Albus pulled at his hand, peering into his eyes (it almost reminded him of a young child trying to get their mum’s attention). “You’re my best friend.”

Scorpius’ frown disappeared, he felt silly for sulking. “And I’ll get you something,” Scorpius’ mind couldn’t help running through all the possibilities of what he could get Albus (some more romantic than others, most not acceptable as a “friend gift”).

“Great, it better be good,” Albus winked playfully and Scorpius’ heart nearly jumped from his chest at the gesture. 

He tucked the letter away into his robes. He didn’t want anyone to steal it, he was still facing problems from the last time (and probably would be for a long time). Evidently, the Gryffindor had made copies because everyone seemed to know about it. 

Sitting at the table with his head up was a triumph for Scorpius, he felt his cheeks redden as someone a few seats began to laugh. Logically he knew it probably had nothing to do with him, but lately, it felt like everyone was against him. 

“How long until Christmas break again?” Scorpius groaned, resting his forehead on the table. 

“Only a week,” Albus poked him in the back, also laying his head down on the table so they were at eye level.

“Only?” Scorpius asked, turning his head to the side so he could see Albus. Albus did the same.

For a moment, they were just staring at each other. Scorpius could feel his cheeks burning and his eyes going all dopey. But it was pretty hard to care with Albus’ eyes burning into him. 

“How stupid do you think we look?” Albus chuckled, blinking. 

Scorpius broke from his daze, raising his head. “Probably very,” He muttered, rubbing his neck. He observed Albus, whose head still rested on the table. “Yeah, very,” He teased, Albus rolled his eyes and sat up. 

\---

Scorpius was right, a week was way too long. Albus could feel everyone looking at him all the time, some with papers clutched in their hands. He hadn’t been able to get rid of all the letters (not even close). 

He could handle all that, but by far the worst was when Lily approached him, her eyes fire.

“What’s this?” She growled, lowering her eyes to a paper balled in her fist. Albus didn’t even have to ask. 

He was sitting alone in the library, but he desperately wished someone was there (preferably Scorpius, but he’d have taken anyone at that point) so that he could  _ not _ have this conversation. “It’s nothing,” He explained, pulled the paper from her hand and tossing it in the trash. “Some idiot stole Scorpius’ letter-”

“Wait, this is real?” Lily smiled, but not like a nice smile, like an ‘I’m evil and I’m going to hold this over you forever’ sort of smile.

“No, God no,” Albus shook his head and squinted his eyes. “Why would he-? Why would you-? No! This stupid  _ Gryffindor-”  _ He threw the word in her face (but not especially maliciously) “-He changed it.”

“Oh,” Albus swore Lily looked disappointed, it was almost like she lived to see Albus in pain. “Anyway-is Scorpius coming over for Christmas or not?”

Albus forgot his presumably evil sister and grinned, “Yeah, he is,” He could hardly contain his excitement, he wished he had someone to hug. He looked around for Scorpius for a few futile seconds before remembering that he had uncharacteristically turned down his invitation to the library (which was weird), Albus made note to check on that.

“And mum and dad allowed that?” Lily interrogated, taking the seat next to Albus. She had her nose scrunched up, she liked to think that she was looked tough, when she actually just looked sort of cutesy (not that he’d ever say that, because she  _ was _ tough). “When James wanted to bring his girlfriend home they-”

“What?” Albus asked, his eyes narrowed. “That’s different. Scorpius isn’t a girl. Scorpius is Scorpius, Scorpius is my friend.”

Lily rolled her eyes (why were people always doing that?). “Oh right, my mistake. You’re right, that’s  _ very _ different from this situation,” Her tone was both sarcastic and condescending (two of Lily’s trademarks).

Albus heard the doors open gently and turned around to find Scorpius coming in. When he spotted Albus, he smiled and came to sit at their table. He didn’t even seem to notice Lily until she spoke:

“Albus tells me you get to spend the holiday at our house,” Lily explained, she had turned the chair around and was sitting with her chest resting against the back (she thought she looked cool). 

“Yeah,” Scorpius smiled, leaning toward her over the table. “My dad agreed to it, can you believe that?”

Lily huffed.

“What?” Scorpius asked, leaning back into his seat. He looked apprehensive (Albus didn’t blame him, there wasn’t really any other appropriate reaction to Lily).

“Lily thinks it’s unfair because James could never bring girls home,” Albus explained, “And I told her that was totally different because those are girls and you’re Scorpius.”

Scorpius’ eyes widened, and his cheeks pinked. “Yeah,” He squeaked, “Totally different, I mean-it’s not like we’d ever-we aren’t-” He blundered on, his cheeks getting brighter by the second. 

“I know,” Lily interrupted him, “I just told Albus that, it was ridiculous of me to make a comparison. The two are obviously very different. Sorry,” She smiled lightly and pulled her bag over her shoulder, leaving them without so much as a goodbye.

Albus glared questioningly at her back before turning back to Scorpius. “That was weird,” He commented, opening up his book again.

Scorpius only nodded.

\---

It was dark and cold. Scorpius couldn’t see anything, or maybe he couldn’t feel anything? Or maybe there  _ was _ nothing?

Then there was pain (physical and emotional). And Delphi, pointing her wand and yelling “Crucio!” and Albus screaming his name.

Then he was awake, and it was still dark but he could feel the warm sheets against his skin and hear the others breathing. If he squinted he could just make out the emerald green curtains hanging around him.

He sat up, trying to control his breathing. He was used to this, bad dreams and waking up shaking with skin damp from sweating. Scorpius pushed his hair back from his face, his breathing still labored. 

“Scorp?” A quiet voice, almost a whisper, asked. “Are you okay?” Scorpius heard the sheets rustle as Albus (presumably) sat up. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” He panted.  _ Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. _ “Just a bad dream, sort of,” Scorpius muttered, careful to keep his voice low as to not wake the others. He could only imagine: ‘Malfoy cried!’ ‘Malfoy the scared’ ‘Malfoy cries for his mommy!’. Scorpius took another deep breath at the thought of his mother. 

“Do you-Are you-” Albus started, more shuffling. “What was it about?” 

Without hesitation, “Delphi,” Scorpius whispered, his voice trembling slightly. “The cruciatus curse. All of it.”

Albus didn’t answer for a minute, and Scorpius assumed that he’d fallen asleep (he did that sometimes). Then, “Do you mind if I come over?”

Scorpius didn’t know what to say, he hadn’t expected that. They’d only done it one time, but he’d never expected to sleep in Albus’ arms again (hoped, but not expected). “No,” He breathed, barely making a sound. It was a miracle Albus heard him. “I wouldn’t mind.”

Scorpius waited, his breathing had calmed. He could hear Albus shuffling in his blankets and when he pulled back the curtains Scorpius could just make out his outline.

He pulled back the covers and slipped into bed. When he got settled, their faces were only inches apart. Scorpius could feel his breath. 

“I’m sorry,” Albus whispered, he sounded close to tears. It broke Scorpius’ heart. 

“For what? For this? No. This is nice. I-I like this,” Scorpius studied his friend’s eyes (to the best of his ability in the dark). 

“No,” He shook his head, his mouth twisting. “For getting you into that, for taking you back in time, for letting her hurt you,” Albus’ voice shook, and Scorpius thought his eyes were shining more than usual. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Scorpius found his friends shaking hands in the dark and clutched them. “You didn’t know it would happen, you just wanted to change things. You just wanted to be a hero. That’s okay, it was my choice to join you.”

“I’m sorry,” Albus repeated, his mouth twisting. “I never meant to get you hurt, I just wanted to do something, to prove I’m different. You know, like to prove I’m not a squib. When Delphi was hurting you it was the most painful moment of my life.”

“It was the most painful moment of  _ my _ life,” Scorpius chuckled. Albus only looked more worried, his hands clenching around Scorpius’. “Ow, sorry. Not helping.”

“I’m serious,” Albus pushed. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Scorpius insisted, taking a breath. “It was just a dream, I’m okay. It happens sometimes, besides, don’t you have nightmares? Are  _ you _ okay?”

“Mmhmm,” Albus mumbled, his eyes drooping. “Mm good, and I just want you to be...good,” The words trailed off in his mouth. 

Scorpius stared at his friend, his eyes softening. Albus’ hand became loose in Scorpius’.  _ This is nice _ Scorpius thought, a small smile tugging at his lips. He couldn’t help but compare the worried mess his friend had been a minute ago to the soft, open-mouthed boy he was now. 

\---

Albus woke to a face full of white-blonde hair, it smelled nice, like fruit. He pulled his face back from the tangled mess and observed his friend. Scorpius’ hair was standing up on one side and his arm was draped over Albus’ shoulder. 

That would be the second time, the second time that they’d fallen asleep together. It was new, but it was nice, it was some new good version of Albus and Scorpius. Albus smiled and closed his eyes, this was better, maybe if he could always be here Scorpius wouldn’t have nightmares. It was a nice thought, even if Albus knew it couldn’t be true. 

“Are you just gonna stare at me? Or are we going to get up and go get breakfast? Because I’m hungry,” Scorpius’ eyes popped open, a smile pulling at his lips. He looked confident, but Albus could tell by the red creeping into his cheeks that he wasn’t.

“Probably the food, I’m pretty hungry,” Albus sat up in bed, untangling his limbs from his friend’s. 

“What else is new?” Scorpius asked, rolling his eyes and patting down his hair. 

\---

The next three days passed remarkably slow for Albus and Scorpius, each class slogged by as if they’d been hit with a time-slowing hex. The taunts tapered off, but they didn’t go away (they never had). 

The day they were set to leave for break, Scorpius woke up feeling extremely optimistic. 

“Albus, Albus,” He’d scrambled to his friend's bed and was shaking him mercilessly. “Albus, we get to leave today! And after just a week, we get to hang out, without all-” He waved his hands wildly. “-This.”

“You’re forgetting that we have to stay with my family, which is probably more painful than being ridiculed by hundreds of Hogwarts students every day,” Albus said, without raising his head from where it was stuffed in the pillow. 

Scorpius grabbed him by the shoulder and rolled him onto his back. “Get. Up.” He huffed, trying to push Albus off the bed. “Also, you’re forgetting that I love your family,” Scorpius reminded him, his voice returning to its normal cheery state. 

“Of course you love my family, you’ve never spent more 5 minutes them,” Albus groaned, giving into Scorpius’ pressure and rolling out of bed. “They are quite possibly the worst people to live with, by the end of the week you’ll never want to come back again. Please don’t abandon me, though.”

Scorpius laughed and leaned on the bedpost. “You underestimate my love of big families, and people in general,” He informed, a smile somehow further lighting up his already very bright face. “And I’d never abandon you. Even if they really are that bad, we suffer together. Besides, this summer you’re going to visit me and somehow I don’t think you’ll be all that comfortable at that Malfoy Manor.”

Albus scowled and sorted through his clothes, “At least you get some time to yourself,” He complained. “I swear my family doesn’t know the meaning of privacy, or personal space,” He emerged with a green jumper and a wrinkled pair of jeans. 

“Just get dressed,” Scorpius beamed, “Or we’ll miss the train.”

\---

After Albus had gotten dressed and packed the things he needed for the break (Scorpius was personally insulted when he learned that Albus hadn’t yet done that), they headed quite happily, despite Albus’s earlier complaints, to the yard to catch the train. 

Scorpius talked non-stop as they waited in their compartment for the train to leave.

“We get to spend Christmas together! I wonder what I’ll get you!” Scorpius bumbled, he was smiling so much Albus was sure that his mouth would stick that way. “I can’t believe I get to hang out with your family, like, spend more than a few minutes together when we aren’t trying to stop Voldemort or lock up his daughter,” Scorpius’ face momentarily turned to a look of distaste (presumably recalling Delphi’s trial).

“Scorp,” Albus bumped him with his shoulder. “Take a breath, the trains leaving.”

Scorpius took a sharp breath and gazed out the window, still smiling. “I forget to do that sometimes, breathe,” His smile fell away, “I just realized that we’re about to spend a week apart.”

“We’ve spent longer than that apart,” Albus pointed out, slinging his arm around his shoulder. “We’ll survive,” But even as he said it Albus felt his heart sink at the idea of not seeing his best friend for an entire week.  _ You’re being silly  _ Albus told himself. He’d spent months away from Scorpius before, and it had hurt (of course), but this was something different. A more painful something. Something he couldn’t pin. 

“Yeah,” Scorpius smiled weakly. “We’ll survive.”

\---

In the hours aboard the Hogwarts express Scorpius and Albus talked, ate sweets purchased (cautiously) from the trolley witch, and slept a little. At least Albus slept, Scorpius just let his friend sleep while he stared out the window and a little at Albus (honestly, just a little).

When the train pulled into the large arching King’s Cross station Scorpius shook Albus awake, pushing him up in the seat by his shoulders. “Albus, wake up! Wake up!” Scorpius repeated, he rolled his eyes at his friend's pure skill to sleep deeply in any situation. 

“Deja-vu,” Albus muttered, opening his sleepy eyes and stretching his arms above his head. 

“Well, maybe you should consider waking up earlier or not falling asleep on trains,” Scorpius suggested, his voice rising to a very Rose-like tone of know-it-all.

“Nah,” Albus smiled, “That’s what I have you for, waking me up when I fall asleep in inappropriate places.”

Scorpius smiled again and grabbed his bag, “Are you ready to go?” 

“No,” Albus complained, grabbing his own hastily packed bag and sliding open the compartment door. “I’m not ready to spend a whole week with only my family to talk to.” 

Scorpius rolled his eyes and moved past Albus, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the hall to the exit. “Yes, because  _ my _ dad is such a lively conversationalist,” He complained, lining up behind the students waiting to leave the train.

“Sounds better than being bombarded with annoying questions 24/7,” Albus countered, they were nearing the exit and the bright winter sunlight was burning their eyes. 

“Maybe we should use polyjuice potion and switch houses,” Scorpius chuckled, tugging on the other boy's hand until they were stepping down off the train and into the bright, crowded station. “Can we do that?”

“Do what?” Scorpius jumped at the deeper, sort of Albus-y but also not voice behind him. He turned to see Harry Potter lounging near the train. Behind him stood Ginny and Ron.

The words stumbled around in his mouth before falling out in a big blundering mess. “Uh, nothing! It was just, it was a...a,” Scorpius could feel the heat rising to his cheeks and he felt like he might throw up, right there. 

“Scorp,” Albus reassured, laying a warm hand on his shoulder. “It was nothing, a joke,” This Albus directed at his father, who didn’t actually look worried at all. 

“Anyway,” Harry picked up, clearing his voice. “There are James and Lily,” He nodded his head somewhere behind them and with a quick turn, Scorpius saw the other two Potter siblings half-running toward them. Their cheeks were painted a bright red from the cold and they were both smiling widely. 

“Mum, Dad!” James beamed, pushing lightly around Scorpius and Albus and throwing his arms around his father. “I’m so happy to see you!”

Harry, still smiling, muttered something into James ear, who pushed his father off with an indignant huff and: “But why can’t she come! Albus has-”

“Enough James,” Ginny shook her head-she really looked quite tired-and pulled her eldest son into a hug of her own. “You spend enough time with your girlfriend at school, you’ll be fine.”

Scorpius tuned out the conversation (although he could still hear James arguing) and turned toward Albus. “So, this is it,” He said sadly, frowning. “See you in a week.”

Albus smiled at him. “Bye,” Albus’ voice was...something, something he’d never heard before, something soft. So were his eyes, Scorpius basically melted under the pressure of Albus’ eyes.

He pulled Albus into a tight hug, wrapping his arms around him and pushing his face into his neck. “Bye,” He muttered, smiling to the clean, familiar, and warm smell of Albus. After what felt like hours, they pulled apart and Scorpius studied the arched ceiling for a minute before turning his eyes back to his friend. Albus was stuffing his bag onto the cart, looking unaffected by their hug. Scorpius frowned, picking up his own bag and turning to find his dad in the crowd. 

\---

Albus found himself short of breath, his heart clenching in his chest. When they pulled apart from each other, he almost felt like he was losing something (something important). He turned hastily around to pack his things, so Scorpius wouldn’t see him looking so...vulnerable. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Albus struggles with his feelings, and Rose tells him something that makes it even harder to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! It's been about two months since I updated and feel pretty bad about that! But, I've gotten a handle on my school schedule and Camp NaNo is coming up (which I will spend working on various fanfics, including this one) so I hope to be updating more often. If there are typos, feel free to tell me, I appreciate it. I swear I proof-read these like 3 times, but things always slip through somehow.

“Come on, Albus,” Albus’ mum called, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and pulling him into a half-hug. “You and Lily are coming with me, Dad will take care of the luggage.”  
“Okay,” Albus muttered, his eyes turned downward.   
His mum pulled her wand from her pocket and looped her arm around Lily’s, who was already looking angry. Albus couldn’t pinpoint the source of her anger, but it was hardly a surprise, considering Lily spent a good 70% of her time being angry.   
Ginny twisted her wand and Albus felt a jerk in his already twisted stomach. When he looked up from his feet he was looking at the home he’d grown up in. He had many mixed memories here, and he felt like he’d have a lot more after Scorpius spent Christmas there.   
Albus heard the two soft pops behind him and turned to see his father and James materializing behind them on the walk. Harry had their luggage in tow, and James stood beside them with an immensely smug look on his face.   
“I see Mum had to apparate you,” He scoffed, shoving his finger into Albus’ face, who ducked his head back and rolled his eyes. “I didn’t have to be apparated, I did it all on my own.”  
“Bugger off James,” Albus retorted, grabbing his bag from his dad’s hand and making his way to the cozy house. “Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you’re better,” he growled.   
“You’re right,” Admitted James, “There are some things that people younger than me-” He raised his voice “-Get to do that I have yet to experience.”  
“Stop!” Ginny called from where she was talking with Lily. “I will not hear about that again!”  
“What?” Albus asked, hauling his bag into the sitting room. “What’s he talking about? Mum, what is he talking about?”  
“Nothing Albus, it’s got nothing to do with you,” His mum waved her hand absently at him, her attention was still on Lily, who was looking less angry now and more stubbornly determined.   
“It’s obviously got something to do with me!” He objected, “Is this about Scorpius? Why does he keep bringing it up?” He shifted to the left so that Ginny was forced to look at him instead of Lily.   
She grabbed onto his shoulders, looking him in the eye. “James isn’t going to bother you anymore, and this has nothing to do with you, right James?” She called, Albus heard an indistinct grumble from the couch, which his mum obviously took as a yes. “See? Now go put your stuff in your room, I can only deal with one angry child at a time,” Ginny gave him a peck on the forehead before pushing him gently toward the stairs.  
Albus grumpily complied, hauling his bag up the stairs. Once up there, he haphazardly threw his things onto the floor next to his bed. He pulled his phone out of his drawer dresser, he was always insisting that Hogwarts find a way to integrate technology, but they didn’t seem to find it a priority. He had, however, managed to get Scorpius a phone, so they wouldn’t have to go through the tedious process of sending an owl every time they wanted to talk.  
Hey Scorp.   
A minute later:  
Heu Avlis  
Albus: ???  
Scorpius: letrers so smakl  
Albus: Ha! Finally, something that I’m better at than you!  
Scorpius: Dob’t get use ti ir   
Albus chuckled and dropped onto the bed. He couldn’t help but notice how adorable Scorpius was when exposed to muggle things, it was so cute he almost (emphasis on almost) didn’t notice that he’d referred to Scorpius (his friend) as adorable. Even just in his head.   
Albus: I’ll call you.  
Albus pressed the call button and stretched out on his bed, the phone picked up and Albus could hear a quiet Scorpius (basically a whispering Scorpius) ask: “Hello?”  
“Hi,” Albus greeted, he couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice. It hadn’t even been an hour, but it felt nice to hear his friend's voice. “I’m surprised you managed to answer, and on your first try.”  
“I’m not a complete idiot,” Scorpius said, and Albus swore he could hear that he was smiling too. “I know that ‘Answer’ generally means you want to talk to the person.”  
“Mmm, with your level of ineptitude at muggle technology I honestly wouldn’t put it past you to not understand it,” He teased, closing his eyes and imagined Scorpius smiling and laughing.   
“Shut up,” Scorpius groaned, “Not everyone grew up with such progressive parents, my dad would probably throw this...phone?”  
“Mmm-hmm,” Albus confirmed.   
“-Into the fire,” He finished, “He doesn’t trust muggle technology.”  
“Well, my dad and aunt grew up muggle, so I guess I did have an advantage when it comes to this stuff.”  
“Exactly! It’s not my fault at all!” Scorpius paused, “I'd love to sit here and talk, but I have to go. My dad’s expecting me at some point for family dinner.”  
“Okay," Albus sighed, already missing him. "I'll talk to you later.”  
Albus tapped End Call and set the phone on his dresser. His mind drifted to Christmas, which reminded him that he would have to talk to his parents about going shopping before Scorpius arrived. He pushed the thought away and occupied himself with unpacking and avoiding his family until he fell asleep.  
\--  
When Albus woke up, all the other members of the Potter family were already up- and behaving quite loudly. Albus groaned and pulled himself out of bed, one glance at the clock told him he’d slept in till noon (he really did need Scorpius’ constant nagging to get up anytime that was relatively close to early).   
He slumped downstairs, his hair a mess (well, a bigger mess than usual). “Do you guys have to be so loud all the time?” He asked.   
“As if you needed to sleep any later,” His mum, who was now the only one left in the room, raised her eyebrows and pulled out a seat for him at the table, which currently held half a plate of cold pancakes. “Eat.”  
Albus gratefully took the chair and grabbed at the pancakes, stuffing them into his mouth. He didn’t care that they were cold or plain, he was hungry.  
“Hey, mum?” He inquired, as soon as he’d finished his pancakes, “Since Scorpius is going to be spending Christmas here, do you think that you could take me out to get him a proper present?”   
“You’re getting each other presents? That’s sweet,” Ginny cooed, rubbing his hair. “I think your dad would like to take you. He really wants to spend time with you.”  
“But I don’t want to go with Dad,” Albus complained, hunching down in his seat in defiance.  
“Well, he’ll want to go with you, so you’re going,” She used her it’s final voice, and Albus knew there was no point trying to get out of it.  
It wasn’t that Albus didn’t like his dad, things between them had greatly improved since fourth year, it was just that he didn’t want to spend an entire afternoon trying to avoid his dad’s relentless bonding techniques.   
Albus grumbled a non-committal agreement, but grumbled all the way over from his chair to the sofa, he knew he was being dramatic, but he was already nervous enough about getting Scorpius a proper present (proper meaning not sweets or trinkets from his uncle's shop).  
“Don't worry, you'll have fun,” His mum called to him, she’d taken his place at the table and was working on what looked like an article for the Daily Prophet, but Albus couldn’t be sure. “Before you go up to your room to mope about how hard you're life is, the whole family’s going to be at the burrow for dinner tonight. So be ready.”  
Albus groaned quietly and shoved his face into the sofa throw pillow, he really didn’t want to spend time with his entire extended family at the moment, as they were considerably worse than his immediate family.   
The silver lining to the dinner was that with everyone there, it would be easy for Albus to be overlooked. And that was all he wanted right then.   
\---  
Albus sat down at the overly crowded table in the cramped dining room of his grandparents, the room was bustling with noise, and the table had been spelled to fit more people (as it always had to be when the whole family gathered). Albus was sitting at the end of the table, Rose sat to his left, her face buried in a book. He almost wished he could tune everybody else out like she was.   
Rose lifted her head, as if she'd heard his thoughts, and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and turning her face toward him. “How’s Scorpius?” She asked, setting her book on the table with her napkin as a bookmark. She had yet to fill her plate.   
“He’s fine...I guess,” He told her awkwardly, his fingers tapping the table. “I haven’t seen him in a bit, so I don’t really know. Why?”  
“Oh. Just wondering,” She paused for a minute, considering something. “Does he still, like, have a crush on me?” She asked suddenly. Albus was caught off guard, she never really talked to him about anything personal, especially Scorpius’ crush.   
“No.” He replied without thinking.  
She frowned.   
Albus' brain caught up with his mouth (his stupid mouth) and he tried to fix it. “I mean! I don’t know. He hasn’t really said much about it...lately.”  
“Oh, well,” She puffed out her chest, her eyes darting to her dad. “If he asked again, I might just say yes.”   
“Oh, okay,” Albus replied, he felt his heart sink. He didn’t want Scorpius to go out with Rose. His best friend and his cousin. It was weird. He suddenly wondered if this was how his uncle Ron felt when his dad had started dating his mum, and then he felt bad for his uncle. “I’ll let him know?...” He let his reply trail off into a question, he didn’t know what she wanted him to say.   
“Thanks,” She smiled and pulled her book back up. Albus was reminded of Scorpius and his love of books. Of course they would like each other. Albus wasn’t sure why he cared so much, he wanted his best mate to be happy. Of course he did.  
Albus spent the rest of the night feeling somewhere between sad and angry. No one paid him much attention or asked him what was wrong, his dad shot him a few concerned glances from his spot across the table, and Albus feared that it meant he would have to talk to him after dinner. He half-heartedly listened to his family chatting and laughed lightly at the appropriate moments. He zoned out to the uncomfortable thought of Scorpius marrying Rose, and when someone said his name, it took them three tries and nearly and minute to get his attention.  
“Albus?...” His uncle Ron trailed off. His gaze questioning.   
“Hmm?” Albus inquired, snapping out of his daydream (day-nightmare?) and turning his attention to his uncle.   
“How’s school going? Rose tells me you guys have started to hang out more? You, Rose, and Scorpius?” His tone darkened just a hint, he still had his thing about Rose and Scorpius hanging out. Like it might turn to something more (although maybe it would?). But he still looked cheery, as always, and he was already stuffing pork into his mouth before Albus even opened his mouth.   
“Umm, yeah,” He cast a sideways glance at Rose, who had- because of an earlier comment of her mother’s about table manners- set her book to the side of her plate. She glanced back at him and shrugged, scooping up a healthy portion of potatoes. “We sometimes eat breakfast together...and sit together in class.”  
“That’s good, I remember when you two didn’t get along at all,” Ron chuckled, and Albus had to force a laugh, because it wasn't that long ago that they didn’t get along, not long enough ago that it was funny.   
“Dad,” Rose snorted, “We all remember it, it was like a month ago,” She said, voicing Albus’ thoughts exactly.   
Uncle Ron just shrugged and continued to shovel his way through the meal.   
Albus didn’t talk to anyone else for the rest of the night aside from one-word answers to the courtesy questions his family would throw at him. He almost preferred it when no one had made an effort to include him, it certainly was easier.   
When the night was over, everyone aside from his grandparents lined up in front of the fireplace to Floo home, James cheekily grabbed his wand from his back pocket and went on for what felt like hours about how he could just apparate before he finally disappeared in a swirl. Albus swore he heard the whole of the family sigh in relief.   
His father was directly behind him in the line, and he placed a hand on Albus’ shoulder. Giving it a squeeze. “Everything okay?” He asked softly as Albus turned his head to face him. “You looked...off, during dinner.”  
Albus just shrugged, flicking his gaze back ahead of him to Rose, who was talking animatedly to Hugo, who honestly didn’t seem very interested.   
His dad looked doubtful, but he shut up about it for the time being, and when Albus stepped into the fireplace and spun off home, he couldn’t help but be happy that his father knew when and where to bug him about his personal life.   
\---  
Albus was sitting up in his room, texting Scorpius-who had gotten annoyingly better at it since they last spoke- about the dinner (sans Rose’s expressed interest) when someone knocked lightly on the door.   
“Yeah?” Albus asked, flitting his eyes up to the door.   
His dad stuck his head inside the room, smiling hopefully. “Can we talk?” He asked.  
“Sure,” Albus agreed, against his better judgment, he didn’t want his dad prying around in his head right now.   
“Who were you talking to?” Harry asked when he noticed Albus click off his phone and set it next to him on the bed.   
“Scorpius.”   
“He has a phone? Does his father know about that?” Harry smiled slyly, sitting down at the end of the bed and setting his hand on Albus’s leg.   
Albus shrugged again, the corners of his mouth quirking up despite his best efforts.   
Neither of them said anything for a minute, but Albus could feel the ball about to drop.   
“Are you okay, Albus?” His dad finally asked, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.   
“I’m fine,” Albus wanted to shrug, but he felt like that would be one too many times. After a pause and an intensely questioning look from his dad, he admitted, “It’s just, Rose told me that if Scorpius-if Scorpius asked her out again she’d say yes.”  
“And that...bothers you?” His dad didn’t say it in any kind of patronizing way. It just seemed like he was trying to navigate the subject carefully. Albus didn’t exactly blame him, he had a history of blowing up if his dad said even the slightest thing wrong.  
“I don’t know,” Albus threw his head back against the headboard in exasperation, casting his eyes up to the slanted ceiling. “I mean, it’s weird. It’s just weird. She’s my cousin, he’s my-he's my friend. It’s just like how Uncle Ron didn’t like it when you started dating Mum.”  
“Well,” Harry slid himself up to the top of the bed so that he too could rest his back against the headboard. “I think that if that really is the reason that this is so uncomfortable for you,” with that he glanced at Albus, looking doubtful. “Then you’ll see, in time, that this isn’t so bad. Just like Uncle Ron did, luckily for me,” His father chuckled.  
Albus almost laughed with him.   
“And if there is some other reason that you don’t like them together,” He didn’t elaborate on that, and Albus didn’t think he knew what his dad meant, but he knew enough to not ask about it. “Then you should talk to him, because I think that if you do, everything will turn out for the best.”  
“Yeah, okay,” Albus agreed, frowning slightly.   
His dad slipped off the bed, bending over to peck Albus on the forehead before heading for the door.   
When he was nearly out, Albus called: “Dad?”  
Harry turned, his eyebrows raising slightly.   
“What if what’s best for Scorpius is-is Rose?” Albus’ voice shook and he could feel the weight of the question hanging in the air between them, the weight of what he had just silently admitted, to his dad and himself.  
“Well, I think that if that’s the case. Then you’ll be okay, you and Scorpius will survive it. You two are strong, and so is your friendship, you’ll get through it,” His dad’s eyes softened, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.   
“Thanks,” Albus said, and he meant it, it was one of the few times he ever had. “Will you take me gift shopping tomorrow, for Scorpius?” He added, on an afterthought.   
A full blown smile lit up Harry’s face, Albus didn’t think he could help it. “Of course.” Then he was gone, and Albus was left to fall asleep with his dad’s words ringing in his ears.   
He dreamed of Rose and Scorpius, all grown up and getting married. Then he dreamed of him and Scorpius, holding hands, and snogging, and acting like proper boyfriends. And he didn’t hate it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Scorpius and Albus go Christmas shopping with their dads. And both boys struggle with finding something to appropriately represent their "friendship".


End file.
